(CNN) – The death penalty should be applied in the case of Dzhokar Tsarnaev, the 19-year-old suspected of participating in the Boston Marathon bombings, Sen. Chuck Schumer said Sunday.

"Given the facts that I've seen, it would be appropriate to use the death penalty in this case and I hope they would apply it in federal court," Schumer, D-New York, said on CNN's "State of the Union."Follow @politicaltickerFollow @KilloughCNN

And Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Sunday on Fox News the case should likely be considered a death penalty case under federal law.

While the death penalty is not legal in the state of Massachusetts, it can be used at the federal level.

Tsarnaev, a naturalized citizen, remains in the hospital in serious condition under federal custody. Federal prosecutors hope to charge him as early as Sunday, a Department of Justice official told CNN. Due to his condition, he may be arraigned at the hospital, a law enforcement source said.

Federal prosecutors had been working on preparing terrorism and possibly other charges against him, a Justice Department official told CNN. He's suspected of plotting and carrying out the Boston Marathon bombings along with his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, who died after a shootout with police Thursday night.

Schumer authored the 1994 law that expanded the federal death penalty to include additional crimes. Timothy McVeigh, who was convicted of carrying out the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, received the death penalty. He was executed by lethal injection in 2001.

"This is just the kind of case that it should be applied to," Schumer said, referring to the Boston Marathon blasts, which killed three people and injured more than 170 others. The Tsarnaev brothers are also suspected in the shooting death of an MIT officer last week.

soundoff(17 Responses)

Chuck thinks it is appropriate to give the Boston bomber the death penalty. Really.

#1 Why is this news?
#2 How long before Chucky is no longer relevant?

April 21, 2013 11:45 am at 11:45 am |

Larry L

The death penalty process needs to be streamlined to eliminate long periods of waiting between appeals. It may be a money-maker for lawyers but in some scenarios (and this looks like one of those situations) justice is best served quickly.

April 21, 2013 12:01 pm at 12:01 pm |

Jaimie

The death penalty is the nicest thing you could do with this scum.

April 21, 2013 12:04 pm at 12:04 pm |

Terrie

Why make him NOT SUFFER by giving him the death penalty? Give him a life sentence, no solitary confinement, and allow him to mingle with the other prisoner's! He will die faster then waiting for the chair/injection, he WILL SUFFER before he dies, and it will be cheaper in the long-run. I would be the perfect end for him for suffering that he and his brother have caused.

April 21, 2013 12:05 pm at 12:05 pm |

Tony in Maine

Not that I think he's innocent, but could we have a trial first?

I really hate it when politicians get all tough and gnarly for the tiny-brained. He needs to be tried, have a verdict rendered which will, I assume be guilty, then have a judge – NOT A SENATOR – do the sentencing. I might have expected blather like this from a demagogue like CRuz, but I thought better of Schumer.

April 21, 2013 12:06 pm at 12:06 pm |

GI Joe

I don't understand how 3 killed by 2 bombs is more important than 26 killed by 1 gun.

April 21, 2013 12:26 pm at 12:26 pm |

Grahame Rhodes

Terrie Be better with solitary. In the general prison population he would be a hero. plus there's lots of Muslims in the prison population anyway who would gravitate towards him. Solitary confinement in a very dark cold cell would better

April 21, 2013 12:41 pm at 12:41 pm |

just askin

funny how now all the liberals are so, yeah let's execute the guy. hang him from the highest tree. what ever happened to the opposition to the death penalty? isn't still part of the democrat platform?

April 21, 2013 12:41 pm at 12:41 pm |

the most innocent of them all

GI Joe
I don't understand how 3 killed by 2 bombs is more important than 26 killed by 1 gun.
-–

I don't understand how any of them are more important than the hundreds of thousands murdered by Planned Parenthood/Abortion and their baby killing "doctors".

April 21, 2013 12:44 pm at 12:44 pm |

buongiorno

punishment for such a crime should be murder when individuals think they can attack innocent people and get away with it during a worldwide social event

April 21, 2013 12:53 pm at 12:53 pm |

Laris22

I think he was influenced heavily by his brother. I believe that should be taken into consideration.

April 21, 2013 01:05 pm at 1:05 pm |

gitfidl

3 were killed by two men (who used bombs). 26 were killed by a child who was mentally ill (he had access to a gun .. provided by an adult); on the same day as any of these events 150 innocent people were killed by by people driving vehicles.. every day.. every day .. every day .. for the past 60 years. The 150/day are entirely unimportant (why?) .. so which deaths are important? It all depends on the media. (you know?) (well, now you know)

April 21, 2013 01:11 pm at 1:11 pm |

Larry L

@GI Joe

I don't understand how 3 killed by 2 bombs is more important than 26 killed by 1 gun.
=======================
Good observation!

April 21, 2013 01:33 pm at 1:33 pm |

The "M" word... the new unspeakable word

Time to admit the problem is radical MUSLIMS. I just love how the media and press has avoided saying they were Muslim. They have used their Chechen nationality instead to deflect and conceal that this was terrorism by Muslim radicals. You are being manipulated America. Open your eyes.

April 21, 2013 01:37 pm at 1:37 pm |

Thomas

What about the owners of the Fertilizer plant in Texas ?

Greed , and the legal ability to get around regulations doesn't apply ?

Sen. Chuck Schumer needs to stop milking votes and let the investigation and law take it's course .

April 21, 2013 02:04 pm at 2:04 pm |

Terrie

He would be a hero to some, but the one's that don't think so, would make his very short life a miserable ^%$&. Even the worst offenders do not abide others that kill and maim children and women. They would make him suffer at their hands before they killed him, so he could feel what it's like to hurt before he dies for the one's he hurt and killed. Eye for an eye.